Mr. Barron and Mr. Carter will be honored at the Festival’s signature concert, Jazz Meets the Classics in collaboration with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Classical Jazz Quartet, which includes Mr. Barron, Mr. Carter, Stefon Harris and Lewis Nash, will perform unique and exciting jazz interpretations of works by Bach, Mozart and Tchaikovsky.

“This year, the DC Jazz Festival honors an undisputed master of jazz piano, Kenny Barron, and one of the world’s most recorded jazz bassists, Ron Carter,” said Michael Sonnenreich, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the DC Jazz Festival. “With our Lifetime Achievement Award, we recognize their enduring contributions to the jazz genre and community.”

Kenny Barron has been lauded as “one of the top jazz pianists in the world” by The Los Angeles Times and “the most lyrical pianist of our time” by Jazz Weekly. His unmatched ability to mesmerize audiences with his elegant playing, sensitive melodies and infectious rhythms has earned him nine Grammy Award nominations and countless honors. Mr. Barron joined jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie's celebrated quintet in 1962, during which time he developed an acute appreciation for Latin and Caribbean rhythms. In 1974, he recorded the first of more than 40 albums, Sunset To Dawn. From 1973 to 2000, he served as professor of music at Rutgers University, where he mentored many of today's young talents, including David Sanchez, Terence Blanchard and Regina Belle.

Virtuoso bassist, cellist, composer, educator and author, Ron Carter’s reputation in the music world is peerless. He performs with stunning virtuosity and impeccable taste as both a leader of his own groups and a supportive collaborator. With more than 2,500 albums to his credit, the two-time Grammy Award-winner has recorded and performed with many of the greatest names in music, including Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Aretha Franklin, Sonny Rollins, B.B. King and Carlos Santana, among countless others. Mr. Carter has lectured, conducted and performed at clinics and masters classes, instructing jazz ensembles and teaching the business of music. He has authored a series of books, among which is Building Jazz Bass Lines and The Music of Ron Carter; the latter contains 130 of his published and recorded compositions.

In the fifties I enjoyed latin music. Then in the sixties I heard Stanz Getz and Charlie Byrd with Desafinado. That led me on the path to jazz.
Always interested in photography, so in the early '70s I started combining the two

In the fifties I enjoyed latin music. Then in the sixties I heard Stanz Getz and Charlie Byrd with Desafinado. That led me on the path to jazz.
Always interested in photography, so in the early '70s I started combining the two. No financial rewards, but immense satisfaction and, thanks to
linking up with writer Stan Britt, managed to meet (and photograph) some of my heroes: Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson.
Best gigs? Sinatra with Basie at the RFH, London, and Dexter Gordon at Ronnie Scott's.
Advice to new photographers? Be polite, obtain permission, remain invisible, and always thank when possible the musicians and venue operators.

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